Ex-Boro footballer Adam Johnson will renew his request for an appeal against child sex offence charges, his lawyers have said.

Johnson, 28, had begun the process of appealing against both sentence and conviction, after he was jailed for six years in March for engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.

Ahead of his trial at Bradford Crown Court , he admitted a further count of engaging in sexual activity with the schoolgirl and one count of grooming. He was cleared of another count of sexual activity with a child.

Now, his lawyers say they will renew their application — even though lodging a second appeal could leave Johnson spending more time in prison.

London-based Burton Copeland Solicitors said: “We have received notification that Adam Johnson’s applications for leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence have been refused by the Single Judge. He is obviously disappointed.

“Having carefully considered all of the information, we will be lodging renewed applications on conviction and sentence in the coming days.”